School starts lessons at LUNCHTIME for tired teenagers

A £15,000-A-YEAR private school is to start the academic day at 1.30pm to allow teenage pupils a lie-in.

Sixth formers at Hampton Court House will start after lunch from September[Cascade News]

A £15,000-A-YEAR private school is to start the academic day at 1.30pm to allow teenage pupils a lie-in.

From September the independent Hampton Court House school, in East Molesey, Surrey, will introduce a 1.30pm to 7pm timetable for all students aged 16 and over. Lessons will start at 9am for all younger pupils.

The unusual move was taken after research by neuroscientists showed teenagers learn better if they are allowed to wake up according to their body clocks.

Headteacher Guy Holloway said: "There are 168 hours in a week and how productive they are depends on how they choose to use those hours.

"At Hampton Court House we don't think we have the answer for everybody, it's about what works in our community.

"We want to get them into an environment where they can get quality sleep and their bodies are functioning well."

In addition to getting an extra bit of shut-eye, students will also have the added benefit of a commute to and from school during off-peak hours.

The school will have the latest start time in Britain, as the only one starting lessons in the afternoon.

Experts say young people are biologically programmed to get up later due to a shift in their body clocks.

In 2007 the Hugh Christie Technology College in Tonbridge, Kent, introduced an 11.30am start three days a week start for all 14-plus students. In 2010 Monkseaton High School, North Tyneside, moved its 9am start to 10am.

Both schools say the later start has boosted their student's levels of concentration and exam performance.

But Hampton Court House has gone further by scrapping mornings altogether.

Year 10 student Gabriel Purcell-Davis will be one of the first of 30 A-level students to start at the later time. The 15-year-old said: "I want to wake up in my bed, not in my maths lesson."

The move is based on research by Dr Russell Foster of Oxford University, who believes teenagers have a biological predisposition to go to bed and wake up later.

Research associate Paul Kelley, who is working with Dr Foster on his latest research, said teenagers perform better after a good night's rest.

He said: "You can't train your system to get up at a practical time. It's biological, just as your heartbeat, your liver function and a bunch of other things that all sync to natural biological time and that is not in your control.

"Anything you do to change the rhythmic systems of your body means your organs become desynchronised with each other and this is where people get ill and there is no fixing it by giving someone an alarm clock.

"Your body is not watching your wristwatch."

Despite his claims, the move has been met with some scepticism.

Lesley Kirby, head of nearby Richmond Park Academy, said they had considered a slightly later start, but it would inconvenience staff too much.

She added: "It is also important for the main school to see sixth formers as successful role models who are carrying on their education and that is not present if they see them for a very short period of the day.

"Then what are these students going to do when they have a 9am lecture at university, or start work? They won't be able to go in during the afternoon.

"School is about training people in living effective lives and I don't think this is effective as it would be quite difficult to make the change back. I would also wonder how robust the science is."